He Who Cannot be Named

Dane likes to help me make yogurt every week.  When he won't stop "tasting" it, I know I got the consistency and sweeteners right.

Sometimes a girl just wants to be alone with her birthday cereal and her audio book.

Movie night.

Dane likes to fling things around the house, from rubber toys to hair things.  Bonus points if he hits somebody or gets it stuck on top of tall furniture or a light fixture.  Here he has some chocolate stuck to his front tooth, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

Baby's first costume.

Chloe wanted to be a dancer.  I wanted Dane to follow tradition and be the ladybug, but Landon just wouldn't allow it.

At the ward Trunk or Treat, where the kids brought home pillowcases of candy and prizes.  They didn't want to limit themselves to the smaller capacity of the plastic pumpkins this year.

Logan after church today, fueled by a breakfast of Snickers and Twizzlers.

Dane in Ninja posturing as he flings a rubber toy.

 Baby Boy is due in 8 weeks now, and I'm getting impatient.  What I love is when moms nod sympathetically and then give the advice, "Well, you know it just gets harder when they come out."  When these young moms are an inch from 40 years old after 7 pregnancies and have varicosities the size of my pinky finger, they might change their tune.  At night before I collapse into bed, I take off my support hose, bra, full-paneled maternity pants, and my "pelvic floor compression" gear; then I just expand and sag like a popped can of Pillsbury dough.  Landon and I still can't come to a consensus on a boy's name.  He likes "Zane," but I think that having a Zane after a Dane would just reveal the truth: we've run out of ideas.

Jocelynne gave her first talk in sacrament meeting today!  She had to stand on her tippy toes, and even then the microphone only came down to her forehead.  Despite that, she did a great job and is relieved her turn won't come around again for a while.  She's come a long ways from the days when we had to assign her as a poster-holder for our annual primary program because she refused to speak.

Landon has turned in the final draft of his dissertation to his committee (yay!) and is now working on preparing for his defense.  After he passes his defense in November, he has 10 days to turn in the final copy of his dissertation.  And then he'll graduate December 15th.  Boom!  It's really going to happen!  We have no job offers yet, but we feel confident that the Lord has a plan for us.  I can't wait to find out what it is.  :)

The kids all performed in the primary program last week.  They started memorizing their parts a month ago because we promised them a McDonald's ice cream cone if they got it down pat before the program.  Chloe, who has a gift for memorization, earned her cone in no time.  But the rest of them waited until the morning of the program before knuckling down and accomplishing their goal.  Still, I was one proud Momma.  Logan effortlessly rattled off the 10th Article of Faith for part of his talk, which raised some eyebrows and brought some smiles.  Tristan summarized a General Conference talk beautifully while speaking clearly and maintaining eye contact with the congregation.  Chloe provided half the volume for the songs -- I was worried she might strain something.  And Jocelynne, as the oldest member of primary, got to speak first and last.